Hotel sales hit €238m so far in 2016 - CBRE

There has been €238m worth of hotel transactions since the start of the year - with Dublin's landmark Gresham Hotel having accounted for almost €100m of the figure, according to a report from property group CBRE.

There has been €238m worth of hotel transactions since the start of the year - with Dublin's landmark Gresham Hotel having accounted for almost €100m of the figure, according to a report from property group CBRE.

A total of 37 hotel properties were acquired in Ireland in the first nine months of 2016. The figure doesn't include the sale of the Spencer, Morgan and Beacon hotels in Dublin.

The €150m sale of those properties by Fitzpatrick Lifestyle Hotels to a partnership including US billionaire John Malone, Paul Higgins and John Lally won't complete until the current quarter. Spain's Riu Group sealed the €92m acquisition of the Gresham last month.

Lisa Keogh, of CBRE Ireland's hotel division, said that including the Lifestyle sale, the total spend on Irish hotels will be around the record €710m level that was recorded in 2015.

The Lyrath Hotel in Co Kilkenny was sold earlier in the year for over €20m by a group of Irish investors.

The property was developed by businessman Xavier McAuliffe.

Other properties on the block since the beginning of the year include the former Burlington Hotel, which is being sold by Blackstone Group with a price tag of €180m. It is being bought by Germany's DekaBank.